TITLE:
Early Symbolic Notations for Mechanism Design in the 19th Century
AUTHORS:
Marco Ceccarelli, Eduard Krylov
KEYWORDS:
History of Mechanical Engineering, History of Mechanisms, Mechanism Design, Mechanism Modelling, Symbolic Notations, History of Mechanism Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.15 No.4,
October
23,
2026
ABSTRACT: Labels and symbolic notations are the basis for modelling and analysis of mechanical designs, particularly of mechanisms with features that have been proposed since the beginning of the nineteenth century, even for design purposes. They were proposed in several forms and solutions, starting with pioneer applications in catalogs and classifications of machines and mechanisms. Early symbolic notations of mechanisms, mainly due to Babbage, Reuleaux, and Masi, are presented and discussed in this paper with the aim of giving merit to those pioneer works and of tracing a historical evolution of the matter that is still fundamental for modern developments both in teaching and research. Modern symbolic notations have evolved from these early attempts with new mathematical features for design and analysis algorithms, with an increased interest in broader classifications and more efficient analysis and synthesis procedures.